Illusion and Kinetics being the 2 power sets for the character and Controller the archetype.

A couple more acronyms you will need (and I think relevant to Bey's post)

SO -- Single Origin
DO -- Dual Origin

Both referring to enhancements you can add to your powers. The training enhancements you are getting now as loot are usable by players of any origin but are the weakest.

Dual origin enhancements can only be used by one of the two origins on the enhancement. Say Technology/Science. Any character with a tech or science origin could use it, but nobody else. DO enhancements are more powerful than training but less powerful than SO enhancements.

Single origin are just that. Usable only by characters of that origin type and give the best bonuses to your powers.

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The best way to make America great is to lower the standards!

Oooh, also since I bought the CoH/CoV combo game, I get a VIP Pocket D pass.

What is it?

It's two things (sort of): It's a badge (which means nothing unless you want it to). It also grants a teleport power directly into the Pocket D. You can also access Pocket D via Kings Row, Talos Island, Founders Falls, Port Oakes, Sharkhead Isle and St. Martial.

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- BrotherMan is cool for showing me the basics around the game. Also looking forward to hooking-up with bey.

I've been giving you space to explore on your own just holla if you want to get together. There is a lot to know, hints, tips, secrets and all manner of things. Paragon Wiki is one place to find information (so long as you have an idea of what you're looking for). Otherwise, the official forums are, or can be, very helpful.

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- Leveling up 12 characters together is a long-drawn out process. Still, as I've been told, it's a great way to explore and learn all about the game.

"Blue side" has been around longer, has more zones and more niche zones than "red side." Contacts blue side were programed to send you around the city to accomplish your goals. Newer blue side stuff (Hollows, Striga Isle, Faultline, Croatoa) have zone arcs that are fun to go through.

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- I think I like playing villains more than heroes. No big surprise, really. But, the hero cities seem to be more expansive.

It is smaller red side but adding to that feeling is that most contacts send you on missions in the same zone. A lot of lessons learned from blue side were applied red side and resulted in a better feel, generally. I dislike it over there but it's because of the dreary aesthetics.

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- Galaxy City is empty compared to Atlas.

Back during beta they had to add another starting zone to alleviate the crowds and multiple zone spawns. (When a zone reaches capacity a parallel zone is created. At launch it wasn't strange to see Atlas Park 1-4.)

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- The criminal denizens of the aforementioned cities are either very brave or incredibly stupid. I've got a hero that sets fire to people. Still, even as they watch one of their homies get burned alive, they come at me.

Yes. Goons am dum. But, they have to be, right?

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- I giggle whenever my Tanker wielding a ginormous lumberjack ax wades into a cluster of gangers. He just swings that blade, there is a wet squelching sound whenever he connects. I can only imagine the amount of gore in such a fight. Still, when it's over, a grateful citizen always comes up to thank him.

Oh, it only gets better (as long as you can perservere through the button clicking to see it).

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- The Vlahizok are nasty. Just plain nasty.

Yes. Especially for the level you encounter them they are vile to the unsuspecting hero.

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- Sure, I get ambushed by Clockwork robots whenever I venture too far from city center. But, when I need to smash five of them to fulfill a mission, there are none to be found.

Isn't that the way of it!

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- I've got flight envy. And I'm jealous of those tall-building leapers, too. It takes forever to run across town.

Flight is my favorite.

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- I've no idea how to start RP'ng with others. Do you just start with a greeting in hero-ese?

You can. Atlas Park, under Atlas is one place for general role play. To find the easiest concentration of role players the Pocket D (or just the D). A word of caution: It takes ALL kinds to make the D work. Most evenings you'll find the center dais of the D crowded with people shucking and jiving. They are listening to The Cape Radio, a player run radio station.

This holds true for Virtue especially. On most other servers the D is a ghost town.

Spent the weekend leveling up my Magic Dominator Villain to Level 10. She's a lot of fun, as her Hover ability combined with her psionic attacks allows her to attack from a pretty great distance.

She usually starts off with Dominate on one member of a cluster and then just beat the ever loving fuck out of the minds of his colleagues. Every once in a while she'll slap Dominate on the poor soul to keep him in place.

Sure, it feels a little bit cowardly, but she is a villain.

Now that she's higher up, it's great fun to take out other people with powers instead of the usual gang of losers. Especially fun was the mayhem mission to rob a bank in Atlas Park. Man, I can slam on Longbow agents all day long.

I've got on hero at Level 9, he's a Magic Scrapper with Claws and .... martial arts (?)...I can't remember, whichever power set has "Focused Fighting". He's been boring until I added "Spin" to his claw attacks. Now he can plop himself in the middle of a group of gangers and spin. If the gangers are sufficiently low-level, he can take out a crowd of 3 or so with just one spin.

Again, pretty cowardly, but sometimes I need just a little bit more XP to level-up.

One of the trickier aspects of learning a new MMO is getting the lingo down. I don't know if there's a comprehensive list of what we call things or not. If there is it's probably somewhere amidst these links. There is quite a bit of info that's been collected over the more than four years the game has been running. I hope you're doing okay acclimating to the environs.

I think running through a mayhem is a lot more fun than a safeguard. Mostly because you can destroy just about everything! It's quite cathartic. You can do a safeguard hero side which is sort of like a mayhem but totally different as in you're trying to prevent a villain from escaping with the cash. There are the same temporary awards (Atlas Park = jetpack, and so forth you dig).

How good is your computer? I ask because the top end villain zone, Grandville is, well, a place of scum and villainy and is mean to even some of the better rigs.

Oh, another place of information: Vidiotmaps. Has various maps of the many zones, items of interest and links to the multitude of badges and how to acquire them.

One of the trickier aspects of learning a new MMO is getting the lingo down. I don't know if there's a comprehensive list of what we call things or not. If there is it's probably somewhere amidst these links. There is quite a bit of info that's been collected over the more than four years the game has been running.

Thanks for the links, I've spent some time reading them, but frankly I just can't wait to play. I doubt that I have characters that best utilize min/maxing or power combos. They are pretty much themed based on the histories I imagine for them.

Still the maps and stuff have been very helpful as I had no idea how to get to "The Hollows" for a while there.

Speaking of which, there are an awful lot of gangers just hanging around that area. And I love how the AI gets them to fight one another once they are in proximity. But, I noticed that they will all turn on me whenever I show up.

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I hope you're doing okay acclimating to the environs.

I think I'm still very much in exploration mode. I'm amazed at just how expansive the environs are, I doubt I'll visit every nook and cranny of Paragon City.

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I think running through a mayhem is a lot more fun than a safeguard. Mostly because you can destroy just about everything! It's quite cathartic. You can do a safeguard hero side which is sort of like a mayhem but totally different as in you're trying to prevent a villain from escaping with the cash.

Mayhem is fun. I love tossing civilians into air with Levitate! I didn't spend as much time doing that, as the clock was running. Turns out that I did have more than enough time leftover to wreak havoc.

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There are the same temporary awards (Atlas Park = jetpack, and so forth you dig).

I heart my Raptor Pack. Flying is just so cool.

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How good is your computer? I ask because the top end villain zone, Grandville is, well, a place of scum and villainy and is mean to even some of the better rigs.

It's not a high-end gaming rig, but it's got a decent graphics card which I upgraded. I do notice that sometimes when I first start to run or move, my character stutters. I don't know what's causing that, but it gets very annoying. It might be my wireless keyboard, though.

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Oh, another place of information: Vidiotmaps. Has various maps of the many zones, items of interest and links to the multitude of badges and how to acquire them.

Will definitely check this out, provided that reviewing the maps won't spoiler anything for me.

There are certain places, like the Hollows, that are considered Hazard Zones. No, there are no Dukes here, save Clockwork but they don't have Confederate flags painted on them - which would be funny. These zones are level limited, meaning you have to be a certain level to enter them. The Hollows has been recently revamped to be more solo friendly but the other zones around Paragon are, or can be, hazardous to your young hero's well being. In these seemingly abandoned areas villains congregate in stronger and more considerable numbers. Occasionally you will be asked to do things in these areas.

If it is a door mission (go to X and get so-n-so) do not dawdle! If you are on the lower end of the level limit there will be no end to your aggravation of having to go from the hospital to your mission if you should engage the enemy!

If it is a sweep (go here and interrogate x number of y faction) you will most likely need assistance. Time was this would be easy as people would hang out at the entrance waiting for a sweet team to form (for xp, for inf, for badges, for frodo). That day is no more, so I hear. The clever people either take advantage of the mission drop feature* or do not accept those kinds of missions in the first place.

Oh, and the maps at Vidiots hold no arc spoilers - they're just maps. However, another site, Red Tomax, has lists of contacts for both red and blue arcs which will contain spoilers. I will say you can see how one can gain certain "hidden" contacts (redside only) without spoiling. You have to do a lot of clicking to get to the arcs.

*Mission Drop Feature: Once every three days you can drop one mission from contact. There are various exclusions which I am not current on, I think you cannot drop timed missions or missions with a badge reward.

There are certain places, like the Hollows, that are considered Hazard Zones. No, there are no Dukes here, save Clockwork but they don't have Confederate flags painted on them - which would be funny. These zones are level limited, meaning you have to be a certain level to enter them. The Hollows has been recently revamped to be more solo friendly but the other zones around Paragon are, or can be, hazardous to your young hero's well being. In these seemingly abandoned areas villains congregate in stronger and more considerable numbers. Occasionally you will be asked to do things in these areas.

The Hollows are definitely solo-friendly, as you say. So far, I haven't needed any assistance, though did get sent to the Hospital a coupla times. The center of the Hollows has these stone creatures which just beat the ever-loving shit out of me. I've only managed to survive on the peripheries of The Hollows.

Oh and I love Eastgate Park. Sure, the Circle of Thorns can be tough, but I love helping out the Legacy Chain whenever I see them engaged in battle. I'm using a Magic Scrapper, so it makes sense for him to aid his brethren. And I love the name "The Legacy Chain".

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If it is a door mission (go to X and get so-n-so) do not dawdle! If you are on the lower end of the level limit there will be no end to your aggravation of having to go from the hospital to your mission if you should engage the enemy!

I've just such a mission before me, though I haven't accepted yet. I have to go and defeat a Big Bad, but was advised by my contact to bring friends. That got me a little scared.

Interested in venturing in the Hollows to help a brother out? I'm at Level 10 right now and am eager to complete all the missions from this Contact.

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*Mission Drop Feature: Once every three days you can drop one mission from contact. There are various exclusions which I am not current on, I think you cannot drop timed missions or missions with a badge reward.

I had to use this feature once, due to a bug. I finished the mission objectives, but still could not complete the Mission.

Thanks for helping me with mopping up Frostfire and his gang of thugs. Given the massive numbers of Outcasts in that hideout, I doubt that I would've been successful on my own.

I learned a lot:

- Look before you leap. I jumped into a gang of Outcasts only to get caught in a crossfire from just down the hall.

- Gangers am dumb. It pays to draw out as many as you can before charging into the room. As long as they keep coming one-by-one, we can knock them down one-by-one.

- Things just got a lot tougher. As I said before, I'm not sure I could've handled this mission on my own. Now that I've crested the Level 10 mark, I notice that enemies aren't necessarily at my level. Some are several levels higher. This is especially true in the areas of The Hollows further away from the Atlas Park gate.

- I need more powers. The scrapper I used has no ranged attacks, except for that puny magic charm. The one that sounds like Tinkerbell when launched. I just got assigned a mission to clear a cave full of Igneous (?). I did not last long in that cave (that's what she said). So, I'm going to level-up a bit more and see if I additional enhancement slots or powers will give me an edge.

- Bashing goons is fun. My favorite combo from last night's mission is the each of us unleashing a flurry of punches at superspeed on some poor shmoe. Watching him twitch like an epileptic rag doll was totally worth the price of admission.

- The keyboard is your friend. I need to move away from the "cursor keys/mouse" combo. I'm not able to execute attacks fast enough or type in chat. I need to train myself to use the "WASD" keys for movement and the numpad for attacks. I know that you can use the "tab" or "CTRL+tab" to focus on a target (I think the latter focuses on the closest foe, while the former cycles through all foes present on the screen).

ETA: Oh also, I noticed that your character had costume elements that I do not recall being available to me during character creation. Are these bonuses once you obtain a certain level or did you go to the Tailor (I need to find that Tailor shop, off to Paragon Wiki I go!). Also, you had that cool ability to change into your civilian identity, is that also a high-level bonus?

Thanks for helping me with mopping up Frostfire and his gang of thugs. Given the massive numbers of Outcasts in that hideout, I doubt that I would've been successful on my own.

I think the final mission of that arc is the first time your character faces boss and elite boss level characters. (More on this later.) So, yes, that mission ratchets up the difficulty in a good way.

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I learned a lot:

- Look before you leap. I jumped into a gang of Outcasts only to get caught in a crossfire from just down the hall.

I swear I didn't lose sight of you on purpose. I want the noob experience to be as painless as possible; but sadly sometimes defeat is the best way to learn. I didn't have the heart to say anything when you were running the nub controller that running into the middle of a room, despite the truly heroic feeling it offers, is generally a bad idea.

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- Gangers am dumb. It pays to draw out as many as you can before charging into the room. As long as they keep coming one-by-one, we can knock them down one-by-one.

Even as a scrapper I'm cautious about heading into a den of madness without knowing what's around the corner. (Scrapper types are notorious for hitting everything until there's nothing left without regard to anyone or anything - up to and including themselves. ) It doesn't always work out that way. On larger teams the "wait and pull" method gets people antsy but with mob AI the way it is, it's usually a sure bet for survivability.

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- Things just got a lot tougher. As I said before, I'm not sure I could've handled this mission on my own. Now that I've crested the Level 10 mark, I notice that enemies aren't necessarily at my level. Some are several levels higher. This is especially true in the areas of The Hollows further away from the Atlas Park gate.

I don't know if you read in the tutorial but there are number levels and rank levels for determining the color con.

Underlings - At your level, green or grey

Minions - At your level (n) they con white

Lieutenants - At your level they con yellow

Boss - At your level, orange

Elite Boss - Red

Giant Monster - Always purple*

If you are fighting mobs +1 your level, the color codes shift up appropriately. In this game something conning purple is not an immediate death sentence.

There is a special code in place for Giant Monsters, Rikti Invasion forces and Zombie Apocalypse zombies. You will always be able to attack these special mob types and they will con as appropriate for your level. You may not be able to do much damage (like, say, as a level 2) but you are not so hopelessly overmatched.

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- I need more powers. The scrapper I used has no ranged attacks, except for that puny magic charm. The one that sounds like Tinkerbell when launched. I just got assigned a mission to clear a cave full of Igneous (?). I did not last long in that cave (that's what she said). So, I'm going to level-up a bit more and see if I additional enhancement slots or powers will give me an edge.

Claws, specifically, has access to two short ranged attacks but I'm not positive when you'll have access to them. And none of the pool powers you have access to have ranged abilities. In short, you're melee. You're very good at it. Revel in your ability to create chaos. And Igneous are smashing/lethal resistant (I mean, they're rock, duh) in addition to hitting like really big trucks and moving like crack monkeys, so don't feel bad about having your self handed to you.

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- Bashing goons is fun. My favorite combo from last night's mission is the each of us unleashing a flurry of punches at superspeed on some poor shmoe. Watching him twitch like an epileptic rag doll was totally worth the price of admission.

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- The keyboard is your friend. I need to move away from the "cursor keys/mouse" combo. I'm not able to execute attacks fast enough or type in chat. I need to train myself to use the "WASD" keys for movement and the numpad for attacks. I know that you can use the "tab" or "CTRL+tab" to focus on a target (I think the latter focuses on the closest foe, while the former cycles through all foes present on the screen).

I use WASD, top row numbers, numpad and mouse for moving, power activation and chat. I am not a /bind master but I do know a few things. On the official forum there is a guide to bending the keyboard and mouse to your will. (I think it's called the Unofficial Guide to Bind.)

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ETA: Oh also, I noticed that your character had costume elements that I do not recall being available to me during character creation. Are these bonuses once you obtain a certain level or did you go to the Tailor (I need to find that Tailor shop, off to Paragon Wiki I go!). Also, you had that cool ability to change into your civilian identity, is that also a high-level bonus?

Out of the two costumes you saw:

The cape is a reward for completing a certain mission at level 20. (Talk to the City Representative in Atlas Park when you reach level 20.) The chest piece is from completing the Imperius Task Force (available as early as level 35). The costume change is a reward from completing tailor missions (available at 20, 30 and 40) which grant extra costume slots.

There is an Icon in Steel Canyon, Independence Port and Founders Falls. At your level you'd think Steel Canyon is the one you want but it's a hassle to run all the way up there only to get creamed by some level 14 mobs and have to run from the hospital back up there (repeat as necessary). The Independence Port location is just off the Kings Row access, higher level mobs, sure, but not that far of a run.

*sigh* If I heal you, your dumb ass is just going to get hurt again, squandering the priceless hit points I worked so hard to restore. It's much better for me to focus on my sweet healer DPSin'! Pew pew pew!